BSY seeks Rs 5000 crore grant for Bangalore

Bangalore, Jun 18: The Karnataka Government has sought an ad-hoc grant of Rs 5000 crore from the Centre to help it launch a major upgradation of infrastructural facilities in Bangalore city. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today said that he had made a request with the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, during his meeting here on Monday.

The BJP government which assumed power last month unveiled a plan yesterday to take up major infrastructural development in the city at a cost of nearly Rs 10,000 crore. The Chief Minister today sought the intervention of the Planning Commission in the matters relating to the Karnataka state. Mr Yeddyurappa, who met Planning Commission member Kirit Parikh this morning told reporters that he had urged the Centre to consider to reimburse the farm loan waiver of Rs 1750 crore implemented by the state government last year during the JDS-BJP rule. The state government had written off loans to the tune of Rs 25,000 availed from small and marginal farmers and artisans who had borrowed money from cooperative banks.

He said the state government would identify additional resources for increasing the plan size of Rs 21,751 crore as announced by Mr Chidambaram, when he presented the vote on account in the Lok Sabha in March, during the President’s rule. Urging the centre to increase the share of Central power to Karnataka, the Chief Minister said the state was allocated only 15 per cent from the central grid compared to 37 per cent to Tamil Nadu and 31 per cent to Andhra Pradesh. He requested the Centre to increase the percentage share from central generating stations to the state to meet the power shortage. The centre through NTPC should establish generating stations in Karnataka to overcome the power shortage, he added.